I'm alive, I apologise for the wait. Life and all that goes with it as usual. Thank you for all your lovely reviews. Disappointing there weren't any pet stories. You guys need to work on that, give and take people, come on :-p
So I know that thanksgiving was 4 years ago now, but this chapter has it anyway. I hope to have my Christmas chapter up by Easter...
This ones for Bruce.
It was Tuesday and Alison was in the office again with her father. As he would be away for the weekend, their usual Saturday appointment was being pulled forward. God forbid she just have a week off, she thought, rolling her eyes as she pulled up yet more figures from the past year.
"Best year so far." Her father said looking over her shoulder, "So good I'm going to up your allowance for next year."
While Alison made some money from her exploits of being Alison DiLaurentis, her primary source of income, and the reason she could afford the lifestyle she had, came from her allowance. She couldn't even remember a time in her life where she had looked at the price of something. She'd never had to, thanks to daddy's money. It wasn't something that she'd ever in thought about before, but spending time with Emily made her realise that her entire lifestyle was somewhat ridiculous. Knowing that and being willing to give it up were two completely different things though.
"Thank you." She smiled at her father and carried on trying to get everything done so that she could hopefully get out of there at a reasonable time. They were flying to Rosewood in the morning, Hanna and Caleb joining them for the trip. However it was 9pm already and she was nowhere near done.
"I don't mind if you want to come back in tomorrow instead to finish this up." Her father said, getting his coat to leave.
Knowing that wasn't an option Alison just smiled through gritted teeth, "Nope, I'd rather just get it done tonight."
"I'm proud of you," Kenneth said as he headed to the door, "It's that kind of work ethic that has made this family so successful."
Alison just smiled back. While she didn't doubt that her father had worked hard for his money, something that was evident by the fact that he was missing from most of her childhood memories, she was pretty sure his success was also down to being ruthless and lacking any morals.
It was 3am by the time Alison finally got home. She made her way upstairs and got ready for bed. Settling down beneath the covers she found herself unable to sleep. Something was missing. Pepe had gone to Martha's so that there was someone to take care of him while they were away, but that wasn't it. She reached her arm over to the empty side of the bed. Emily had decided to stay at home as she needed to pack and Ali wouldn't be there anyway. Feeling angry at herself for feeling so needy she shut her eyes and rolled over, trying to force sleep to come. Less than two minutes later she gave in. Rolling back over she grabbed the pillow from what had become Emily's side and cuddled it, breathing in the familiar scent. It wasn't as good as the brunette herself, but it was comforting to feel her near. Finally sleep came.
"I cannot believe we get to fly in a private jet!" Hanna squealed as they got themselves settled onboard.
"Really? Because with the amount of times you've mentioned it I thought it would have sunk in by now." Caleb teased her, rolling his eyes at Emily.
Alison just smiled tiredly. She'd hardly had any sleep and she was certainly feeling it.
"You ok babe?" Emily asked quietly.
"Yeah, just a little tired." Alison reassured her.
"Well hurry up and perk yourself up, because we have a fun couple of days ahead of us." Hanna said with a wink.
It was the first time that Alison had met Caleb. She'd been a little apprehensive with him working for her father, but Emily had soon soothed her nerves. To be fair he seemed like a good guy, surely Hanna wouldn't have given him the time of day if not. Plus without him she never would have even known that Emily existed.
They landed at the private airstrip around 10am. She hadn't even bothered to try and sleep on the plane. Partly because of the short flight and partly because she never felt comfortable falling asleep around other people. Emily excluded of course.
"There's a car Caleb!" Hanna squealed again as they stepped off the plane, "Do you see babe? A car!"
"Wow, a real car." Caleb mimicked Hanna's enthusiasm with a large dose of sarcasm.
"Why is nobody else excited?" Hanna muttered annoyed.
"Sorry Han," Emily soothed, "we didn't realise you'd never been in a car before."
Hanna just threw her a glare and stalked off toward the waiting vehicle as the others laughed.
They dropped Hanna and Caleb off at her mom's house before heading to Pam's. Ali was excited to see the house that Emily had grown up in. She was excited to see the town that had helped shape Emily into the person that she was.
"Mom we're here!" Emily shouted as they entered the home.
Alison followed in behind taking in her surroundings and the homely smell. It wasn't like any house she had been in before, this felt like a real home.
"You're here!" Pam came running out of the kitchen and enveloped Emily into a big hug.
"That's what I just said mom." Emily laughed as she hugged her back.
"Oh and Alison, I'm so glad you could come!" Pam said, releasing Emily and giving the same enthusiastic hug to the blonde. Alison just stood awkwardly before hugging her back while Emily watched on with a smile.
"Are you hungry? Do you want a drink?" Pam asked walking back toward the kitchen, motioning the girls to follow.
"Actually can we just get settled first mom?" Emily called after her.
"Oh of course, just take your things upstairs." Pam shouted from the kitchen.
Alison followed Emily up the stairs and into what she presumed was her childhood room. She walked around while Emily dumped their bags. There were trophies and medals all over the room, closer inspection revealed that they were all for various swimming competitions. Carrying on her inspection she found countless photographs of Emily and her friends, they all looked so young and happy. Alison found herself feeling a little jealous of Emily's clearly happy carefree youth.
"The guest room is made up if you want to sleep in there?" Emily said breaking her from her thoughts, "It's up to you."
"Yeah, I think that's for the best." Alison nodded. As much as she hated Emily not sleeping next to her, she really didn't want Pam knowing the extent of her relationship with her daughter.
"Okay," Emily smiled a little sadly, "Right this way."
Emily picked up Ali's things and led her down the hall to guest room.
"Bathroom is the door we passed on the left next to my room, my mom's is the one at the end." Emily explained as they entered the room.
"Thank you." Alison said as Emily put her stuff down.
"Do you want a drink or something?" Emily asked.
"Actually I was going to have a little lie down if that's okay. I don't want your mom to think I'm rude though." Alison wanted to make a good impression on Pam.
"She won't think that's rude, she'll understand." Emily reassured her. "In that case I think I'm going to go for a run around my old route."
Alison just pulled a face, she would never understand Emily's love of running from one place to another.
"Get some rest, I'll let my mom know." Emily said leaning forward to kiss her goodbye before shutting the door behind her leaving Alison alone.
Alison put her stuff away and flopped down onto the soft mattress. It didn't take long before sleep overcame her.
"Alison."
Ali heard a soft voice say disturbing her from her much needed slumber.
"Alison."
The voice came again, she didn't want to wake up yet, she was far too comfortable.
"Just five more minutes babe." Ali mumbled sleepily.
"Okay, but I just worried that you might not be able to sleep tonight, you've been out for a couple of hours." Pam's voice jolted Alison wide awake.
"Pam, sorry I thought you were…" Alison stopped herself short of admitting the truth, "somebody else." She quickly recovered.
Pam just smiled, "I figured, well there's lunch downstairs if you want it."
"That would be lovely." Alison answered, relieved that Pam seemed to have let her sleepy indiscretion go.
"Just come down when you're ready," Pam said over her shoulder as she left, "There's no rush Emily hasn't come back from her run yet."
Alison and Pam were eating when a very sweaty Emily finally came through the door.
"Im sorry I was so long, I got a little carried away." She explained as she approached the table.
"It's fine dear, I've saved you some lunch."
"Thanks." Emily said heading to sit down.
"You can have it after you've showered." Pam said in a tone that left no room for argument.
Emily just laughed and headed upstairs.
After they had finished lunch and caught up with Pam they headed into the living room.
"I'm just going to nip out, I have a few errands to run." Pam shouted through to them.
As soon as she heard the door shut Alison turned to Emily, "We might have a problem."
"Problem?" Emily asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"I called your mom babe." Ali said without the slightest trace of humour.
Emily stared at her with a serious look on her face, "Well, I mean…I won't get between you two, if that's what you really want."
"Emily I'm being serious!" Ali wasn't in the mood for joking.
"Woah what's happening in here?" Hanna's voice entered the room just before she did.
"Oh hey Han, please just let yourself in." Emily's sarcasm evident in her tone.
"Yeah I did thanks," Hanna replied, sitting down and making herself at home, "So what's going on?"
"Ali called my mom babe." Emily laughed.
"It's not funny!" Alison was getting irritated by Emily's apparent apathy toward the situation.
"Context?" Hanna questioned.
Ali sighed, "She woke me up, I thought it was Emily."
"It could have been worse." Hanna scoffed.
"How?" Alison stood and put her hands on her hips.
"You could have called her, angelic unicorn of my bloodstream." Hanna suggested with a shrug.
"Okay Han I don't even…who would…that's not thing." Emily rolled her eyes at her best friend.
"What if she knows?" Ali stared right into Emily's eyes.
"Bitch please, of course she knows." Hanna interrupted again, causing Alison to whip her head round.
"Hanna!" Emily scolded, placing a hand on Ali's arm, causing her to soften somewhat.
"So you don't think she knows?" Ali asked softly.
"Oh no, Hanna's right, she definitely knows. I just don't like her calling you bitch." Emily smiled.
Alison sat back down on the couch with a groan, "What has she said?"
"Nothing, but I'm pretty sure she knows. I mean who brings their boss home for thanksgiving?"
Alison let out another groan, Emily was right, "There's no chance that your mother is an idiot then?"
"Not the last time I checked." Emily said sitting next to her.
"Well now that's sorted, come on we're meetings Spence and Aria at the brew." Hanna clapped standing up.
"Is that a good idea?" Alison questioned, "I mean I don't want to stop you from doing things but what if someone recognises me?"
"It'll be fine." Emily replied like it was no big deal.
"No, it won't be. Just go without me. Seriously I'll be fine here." As much as she wanted to see the town and spend time with Emily and her friends, the idea of being spotted wasn't appealing.
"How open are you to change?" Hanna questioned with a head tilt.
Alison just looked at her with questioning eyes.
"Em we'll meet you there. Tell the others we won't be too long." Hanna grabbed Alison's hand and pulled her up.
"Hanna where are you taking my girlfriend?" Emily called after them as Hanna dragged her outside.
"See you soon!" She called back as she bundled Ali into the passenger seat.
Once Hanna had got in the car and started driving Ali got over her initial shock and found her voice.
"Hanna where are you taking me?" She turned in her seat to look at the grinning blonde.
"My house." Was all she got in reply.
"Hanna I'm not sure that this is a good idea." Ali voiced her concern as they finally pulled up outside the coffee shop.
"Well be sure, because this is an excellent idea."
Alison couldn't help but find her enthusiasm a little infectious.
"Alright," She said taking a deep breath.
"Now remember the plan, go in and just find a random seat." Hanna was getting giddier by the second.
Taking another deep breath she exited the car and headed toward the door, catching a glimpse of her reflection in the window. She barely recognised herself. The dark wig that Hanna had put her in looked foreign sitting on her head. Even her face wasn't completely hers, Hanna seemed to have transformed her into a total stranger. Now came the real test though. She entered the brew and looked straight ahead, walking to the far corner and taking a seat. Daring to steal a glance at the table where a concerned looking Emily and her friends sat, they hadn't even looked up at her. Hanna was right.
The blonde walked in triumphantly, a knowing smirk on her face.
"Hanna!" Emily stood and rounded on her, "Where the hell is she?!"
Hanna just laughed and motioned for Ali to come over.
"Hi." Ali spoke as she approached the table.
"What the…" Emily didn't finish her sentence, instead she studied Alison intently from head to toe.
"Meet Vivian." Hanna practically squealed.
"Well credit where credits due Han, I didn't see that one coming." Spencer tipped her head to Hanna.
They began talking amongst themselves, but Alison wasn't listening. Instead she was studying Emily's face, trying to figure out what her girlfriend made of her new look.
"It's different." Was all Emily offered.
"Do you not like it?" Alison pulled at her wig.
"I would like you no matter how you looked, it's just…different." She pulled a face.
"Well nobody seems to recognise you so sit down and let's order." Aria patted the seat next her.
They had been there for around an hour, just chatting and sharing stories. For the first time in her life Alison felt like she had actual friends. It was a nice feeling, strange but nice. She still didn't trust them completely yet, part of her would always have her guard up. She didn't trust anyone completely though, not Emily, not even herself.
A group of teenagers entered, they were talking loudly and obnoxiously. Seemingly oblivious to the disturbance they were causing the other patrons.
"Were we ever that annoying?" Hanna asked, throwing the group a dirty look.
"We weren't no," Spencer answered, "but you definitely were."
This got a laugh from the rest of the group, while Hanna pretended to sulk. Then Alison heard something that pricked her interest from the corner the teenagers had taken over.
"Alison DiLaurentis."
Apparently the others had heard it too, they all stopped talking and listened intently to what was being said.
"Seriously?" One of the girls in the group didn't look impressed with what the boy had just said.
"If I get to pick one person, then I'd cheat on you with Alison DiLaurentis."
Ali couldn't help but giggle at the jealous look that had just crossed Emily's face, something that Aria had picked up on as well.
"Em he's about 16, I don't think he's a threat." She laughed.
Emily rubbed the back of her neck and blushed.
Hanna leaned over to Alison with a serious look on her face, "Do you want me to get you his number?"
"Alright, alright." Emily finally laughed too.
The teens weren't finished discussing her just yet though.
"Why?" The annoyed girlfriend asked.
"Are you kidding? I mean look at her."
The boys friends whistled and clapped approvingly. Ali flipped her hair and winked at her new friends, who started to giggle again.
"Plus you just know she's going to be good in bed."
Emily nodded involuntarily before quickly catching herself and blushing again. The girls were trying to stifle their laughs now, not wanting to be caught listening in.
"Yeah," Another boy spoke up, "I'll bet you she's dirty as anything. Rumour has it she screws fans all the time."
Alison's face dropped and her eyes widened. This was not a rumour she had heard before.
"They're just kids Ali," Spencer whispered, "They talk shit."
"Someone I know said that she practically begged his cousin for it at a party."
She wanted so badly to get up and get them told, but that would mean blowing her cover. Emily however was already rising out of her seat.
"Sit down, and grow up. They're teenagers." Spencer scolded, pushing her back down.
"I heard that Rollins wasn't even a conman at all. Apparently it she was actually paying him for some kind of fifty shades of grey shit. She was just too embarrassed to admit it." One of the girls had joined in.
At the sound of Rollins name Alison sunk into her chair.
"Well she's a total bitch anyway, everybody knows it."
"Yeah, but I'd kill to look like her. I'll bet she's an idiot with no personality though." Another girl joined in, causing the group to burst into laughter.
Is this how people spoke about her when she wasn't there?
"They might be teenagers but they're assholes." Hanna rose out of her seat angrily.
"Fuck it." Spencer got up too, and followed Hanna's angry march over to the corner.
Emily went to get up, but Aria pushed her down, "I really doubt they need back up."
"Are you okay?" Emily asked softly, eyes searching Alison's.
"Of course." Ali replied trying to put on her best smile, "Nothing I haven't heard before."
Emily didn't look convinced.
She looked over to the corner where the teenagers were quickly getting up and heading to the door.
"Learn some respect!" Hanna shouted after them.
"You really didn't have to do that." Ali said as they came and sat back down, she was embarrassed.
"You stand up for your friends." Hanna still looked angry.
"Yes," Spencer agreed, "Which in this case apparently means threatening to do horrible things to minors." She threw Hanna a pointed look.
"I stand by everything I said." She crossed her arms defiantly.
"Well thank you." Alison looked at Emily who was currently looking at her friends with affection.
"So I'm thinking…" Hanna started.
"Night out?" Aria finished.
"Night out." Hanna nodded enthusiastically.
"I have so much work I've got to do guys." Spencer groaned.
"It's thanksgiving Spence! This is tradition!" Hanna practically begged, "Em and Ali are coming."
"We are?" Ali questioned, looking at Emily.
"Could be kinda fun." Emily shrugged.
"Of course you are," Hanna scoffed, "You think I did that makeover for a coffee?"
Spencer finally agreed to come as long as it wasn't anything too wild. After her and Hanna argued for ten minutes they compromised on a bar not too far outside town.
"What does everyone want to drink?" Spencer asked as she headed to the bar.
"Just a water for me please." Emily answered first.
"What?!" Hanna exclaimed.
Alison knew exactly why Emily was asking for water, she still felt like she was working.
"Em, have a drink. It's ok, you're not responsible for me right now."
"I'm always responsible for you." Emily answered straight back.
"Well in that case, you're fired. I'll hire you again tomorrow, but for tonight at least, can't you just have a normal night out with your friends?" Ali smiled at Emily warmly, she loved how much she cared, but right now she just wanted to experience what normal people did on a night out.
Emily stared at her for while, seeming to understand, "Okay, I'll have a beer."
"The nights on me," Ali said pulling a wad of cash out of her purse and handing it to Spencer, "Go crazy."
"You really don't have to do that Alison." Aria said.
"Yeah but don't feel that you can't."
"Hanna!" Aria chastised.
"What, I'm just saying, if she wants to be nice who am I to stop her?"
Alison just laughed, "Please, it's my treat."
Several rounds later and the party was in full swing. The girls were all quite drunk, it took a lot of coaxing from Alison but Emily was finally letting her hair down. They were dancing, Hanna and Emily currently partaking in yet another mock dance off. While Hanna was what Ali would call an enthusiastic dancer, Emily was downright sexy. Alison couldn't take her eyes off her girlfriend.
With Emily declared the winner yet again, much to Hanna's dismay, a bathroom trip was agreed upon.
The bar had gotten pretty busy in the time they'd been there, lots of people home for the holidays. Ali wasn't used to waiting in line for anything. She couldn't remember a time in her life that she'd had to queue up like a regular person. If she wanted something, she got it. She'd certainly never had to wait in line just to go to the bathroom. However not a single person had even looked twice at her all day, there was something wonderfully freeing about being Vivian Darkbloom.
"Oh take that look off your face, we've been stood here two minutes." Hanna said rolling her eyes.
"Two minutes too long." Ali complained.
"Not so fun being a regular person eh?" Emily teased.
Feeling bold with her new sense of anonymity Ali moved to stand in front of her smug looking girlfriend and kissed her.
"I don't know, it has it's perks." She winked at a stunned looking Emily as she pulled away. She turned back round to see Hanna stood with the biggest, stupidest grin on her face.
"Oh take that look off your face." She mimicked Hanna's earlier words, trying to hide her blush as she entered the newly free cubicle.
"Do you want another drink?" Spencer pulled her attention as she left the bathroom.
"Sure, I'll get them though." Ali nodded, heading up to the bar. It was little things like this, something as simple as going to the bar, that she'd never got to experience before. It was stupid but she was actually enjoying herself. She could only imagine what her parents would say.
"Hey, how are you doing tonight?" A voice broke her out of her thoughts.
"Hi." She said politely before carrying on her way to the bar and away from the clearly drunk man.
"My names Tom, can I get you a drink?" He was following behind her.
"I'm good thanks." She shouted over her shoulder, never breaking her stride. Finally she made it to the bar.
"Well if you're not thirsty how about we just get out of here?" He winked at her.
Alison was gobsmacked, where the hell did this guy get off thinking he could just pick her up in bar? She was Alison DiLaurentis for gods sake! Then it dawned on her, he didn't know that.
"I never got your name." He leaned in closer.
"I never gave it." She replied curtly, leaning away.
"Hey, have we met before?" He leaned even further, studying her face with his glazed eyes.
Panic set in, the guy wasn't so drunk that he didn't recognise her face.
"Definitely not." She snapped, "My name is Vivian."
"Are you sure? You look really familiar." He moved closer again.
"Positive, now can you leave me alone please." Her eyes darted around trying to find Emily, the place was packed now though and she couldn't see anyone she knew.
"Aw, don't be like that Vivian." He put his arm around her, "Maybe you and me can get a little more familiar then."
Alison froze, she'd never had to deal with a situation like this before. Sure she got it from a distance all the time, she'd even had the incident with Lorenzo, but she'd never had to do anything other than walk away while someone else dealt with the problem.
"I can give you the best sex of your life." He whispered right into her face, she could smell the alcohol on his breath.
She'd had enough, she was Alison DiLaurentis whether he knew it or not, and she certainly didn't put up with shit like this.
"I'm already having it thank you very much." She spoke boldly as she forcefully removed his arm, "Now please kindly fuck off."
"Come on now, don't be like that." He said, reaching his arm back out to grab her.
"She told you to fuck off!" Emily's voice made Alison jump.
"We were just..." The guy started to speak.
"No, you were just harassing my girlfriend." She put her arms around Alison protectively.
"Well I didn't see that coming." The guy laughed.
"Are you okay?" Emily turned Ali in her arms to face her, kissing her forehead.
"Yeah I'm fine." She relaxed in Emily's hold.
"Fucking dyke." The guy spat at them, "You know what you really need is a good hard fu…"
The next thing Alison knew, the guy was on the floor, blood gushing from his nose. Emily stood over him.
"You need to leave, now." Spencer was next to Emily. "Take Ali and go back to your moms, I'll deal with this."
Emily grabbed Alison hand and pulled them outside. Ali was in shock, sure the guy was an asshole but she couldn't believe what Emily had done.
"What the hell did you do that for?" She yelled at the brunette.
"I was protecting you." Emily yelled back.
"From what?! You were there, it was over!"
"He insulted you!"
"You can't go around punching everyone that insults me! I think we learned today that would be a lot of people!"
"Just get in the cab Alison!"
"No!"
"What?!" Emily stared at her wide eyed.
"You can't just tell me what to do!" Alison crossed her arms and stood her ground.
"Get in the cab!" Emily shouted again.
"Or what? Hmm? Are you going to punch me?"
Emily's face dropped, "Ali I would never."
Alison sighed, she knew Emily would never hurt her, "Why did you have to do that Emily? If anyone finds out it was me, I can't even think about that right now."
"Please babe," Emily's voice was soft now, "please get in the cab."
Alison got in, this was far from over, but she knew better than to carry it on in the street.
As soon as they got back Emily tried to talk to her about it again. She still seemed a little drunk, Ali didn't want to do this tonight. She was far too angry and she didn't want to cause a scene in front of Pam.
"Emily, go to bed." She said firmly, "You're going to wake your mom up, we'll deal with it in the morning."
"Ali, please." Emily practically begged.
"I'm going to bed." She walked away from her girlfriend and went upstairs to the guest room.
Try as she might she could not sleep. She had been tossing and turning for what felt like hours. She hated that they were in a fight, but she couldn't help but be mad at the brunette. Deciding that she needed a drink of water she got up and quietly tiptoed downstairs. Noticing the light was already on in the kitchen she nearly headed back up, assuming Emily was still up. Her need for a drink won out though and she decided to just get in and out as quickly as she could.
"Couldn't sleep?" Pam asked from her seat at the kitchen table.
"Oh hey, I didn't know you were still up." Alison replied shyly, wondering if Pam had heard their arguing earlier.
"Sometimes I wake up and can't get back to sleep, so I just come and sit a while. It's been that way ever since Wayne died." Pam smiled sadly.
"Well I don't want to bother you, I'll just get some water and leave you to it." Alison went to the fridge.
"You're not bothering me at all, in fact it's nice to have the company. Please, come and sit." Pam gestured to the seat next to her.
Alison hesitantly sat down.
"So what are you and Emily fighting about?" Pam asked as soon as she sat down.
"Fighting?" Alison tried to act surprised at the question.
"Well something was definitely up when you got in and you're sleeping in separate rooms so I just assumed." Pam sipped her tea.
"You know." It was more of a statement from Alison.
"So what did she do?" Pam asked.
"Why do you assume she did something?" Ali suddenly felt defensive of Emily.
"Lucky guess." Pam laughed.
"She punched someone." Alison sighed.
"Why?" If Pam was shocked she didn't seem it.
"He was bothering me at the bar, but she didn't need to hit him." Ali felt herself getting angry again.
"Well I don't condone violence, but Emily is fiercely protective of the people she loves. She's a lot like her father." Pam looked into the distance.
The L word didn't pass Alison by. People seemed to be throwing it around a lot lately.
"So why are you really mad?" Pam asked, drawing her attention back.
"She hit someone." Alison said, as though it was obvious.
"That's everything?" Pam looked at her knowingly.
"I don't want people to know I'm here," Alison sighed, "That guy almost recognised me, what if the police get involved? What if somebody filmed it? It'll be all over the Internet before the sun comes up."
"Well I wouldn't worry about that if Spencer was there." Pam reached over and took her hand.
"Emily could have got into trouble, if she got a record I'd have to fire her." Alison looked down at the table.
"So what you're really mad about is people finding out that you're in a relationship with a woman, but you don't want to lose Emily either?"
Alison just carried on looking at the table, Pam was right.
"I hate to break it to you honey, but you can't have both." Pam spoke firmly.
"It's been going well so far."
"You think Emily is going to want to keep it a secret forever?"
Alison looked up at Pam.
"You don't think that eventually she's going to want to go on holidays? Get married? Start a family?" Pam rubbed the back of Alison's hand.
"I don't know." Alison sighed.
"I think you do, don't you ever think about that stuff?"
"No." It was the truth, Ali never let herself think about any of that stuff. It terrified her.
"Well I think you need to, you need to decide what you want." Pam got up from the table, "Goodnight Ali, if there's one piece of advice I can give you, it's life's too short. You think that person will be there forever but one day they won't be. Just make sure you made the most of your time while you could."
Alison just nodded at her, "Goodnight Pam."
She finished her water and made her way upstairs, reaching the door to the guest room she let her hand rest on the handle. Shaking her head she turned round and headed back down the hall.
"Em?" She asked as she opened the door.
"I'm sorry Ali." Emily sat up in bed.
"I know."
She made her way over the bed and climbed beneath the covers as Emily wrapped herself around her.
"It won't ever happen again." Emily promised as she kissed her hair.
Alison didn't reply, she wasn't sure that Emily would keep that promise. Instead she just snuggled into her embrace and closed her eyes, happy to be back in her girlfriends arms.
When Alison woke up she was alone, it didn't last long though as Emily came bounding thought the door.
"Come on sleepy head, we're going for a walk." She grinned excitedly.
After getting ready in her new disguise they headed out so Emily could give her a tour of the town.
"We couldn't have just driven round?" Alison groaned.
"Nope," Emily said, taking her hand, "You can't drive to all the places I want to take you."
Alison stopped herself from pulling her hand away. Nobody knows it's you, she reminded herself. To be honest, her heart beat a little faster at the gesture. They'd never held hands walking down the street before. She loved the normality of it. Her thoughts drifted back to Pam's words.
"This is where I went to school." Emily gestured to the building.
"Where you won all those trophies." Alison smiled proudly at her.
"That's the place, but then I hurt my shoulder." She looked sad.
"You'll have to take me swimming sometime." Alison held her hand a little tighter.
"Definitely." Emily cheered up at the suggestion.
They walked for what seemed like forever, Emily offering stories for all the different places. Alison loved the town, she would have loved to grow up somewhere like this. She wondered what her life would have been like. How different she might have been.
"That's Spencer's house, well her parents." Emily pointed to a beautiful, large home.
"Looks like her neighbours are selling." Alison noticed the sign outside.
It was a lovely looking house, staring at it she got a feeling in her chest. Suddenly her imagination took over. Her and Emily lived there, in this little town. She taught English at the high school, Emily coached the swim team. She imagined a little Emily running around that home. They were so happy.
"Babe?" Emily's voice broke through her daydream.
Alison suddenly felt sick.
"Are you alright?" Emily moved to stand in front of her.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Alison forced a smile, "Let's carry on."
"Alright, there's just one more place I want to take you." Emily grabbed her hand again and lead her to the woods.
"Is this where you kill me?" Alison joked.
"Aw, I was hoping it would be a surprise." Emily feigned disappointment.
After a fairly short walk they stopped in a clearing.
"We're here." Emily declared.
It didn't look anything spectacular, it was just a clearing with a large rock in it.
"I used to come here to think when I was younger, actually I still do when I'm home." Emily looked around and went and sat on the rock.
"Does it have a name?" Alison asked.
"It does not." Emily answered.
"I think you should give it one." Alison said, moving to sit next to Emily on the rock.
"Like what?"
Alison thought for a moment, "It's the kissing rock."
"The kissing rock?" Emily laughed.
"Yeah, people have been sneaking off to the kissing rock for hundreds of years." Alison continued.
"You're making this up." Emily smirked.
"Just because I make it up, doesn't mean it's not true." Ali stuck her tongue out, "You come here with somebody and you can feel the ghosts of the other lovers spying on you. Pushing you to do it. You know you should never disappoint a ghost." She leaned closer to Emily.
"It's just a dusty old rock." Emily's breath hit her face.
"Who do you want to bring here?" Alison asked, already knowing the answer, she hoped.
Emily closed the gap between them and kissed her passionately. Alison put a hand into her hair, pulling her closer. Suddenly Emily pulled away.
"Ali, I lo.."
Alison quickly closed the gap again, kissing away Emily's words. She knew exactly what she was going to say. As much as she wanted to hear them, she wasn't ready to.
They were interrupted by Emily's phone, dinner was almost ready and they needed to get back.
The walk back was slightly tense, Alison could feel that Emily wanted to say something. She was relieved to find that she didn't.
"Just in time to help with the finishing touches." Pam greeted them as they entered the house.
"What do you need mom?" Emily asked.
"On second thoughts, I rather the dinner wasn't ruined." Pam laughed, "Just go sit down."
"I can help." Ali said, "I want to."
"Well thank you Alison." Pam smiled.
By time everyone arrived everything was pretty much done. Alison had enjoyed helping Pam. It wasn't something she had ever done with her own mother and it was nice to spend time with her. She radiated a warmth she'd only ever received from Martha.
The dinner itself was the most enjoyable one Alison thought she'd ever had. All of Spencer, Aria and Hanna's families and partners had come. It was a squeeze getting everyone in, but they managed. Conversation flowed freely and everyone was treating her like a normal person. She was genuinely happy to be there.
"Quiet please," Pam said standing up, "I'll go first this year, thank you all for coming, it's a pleasure to have you here. I'm thankful for every single one of you." She smiled and sat back down.
One by one they started going around the table, each person saying what they were thankful for. This wasn't something Alison had ever done before. Emily was next and then it would be her, she felt nervous. What should she say?
"I'm thankful for a lot of things this year," Emily began, "I'm thankful for coming home in one piece, I'm thankful for my wonderful friends and family and I'm thankful for getting the best job in the world."
She took Alison's hand under the table and gave it a squeeze.
"I have a lot to be thankful for, I know that," Alison tried to steady her nerves, "I'm thankful for everyone here, you've all been so kind and welcoming to me. I'm thankful for everything that's happened to me in the last year," she squeezed Emily's hand back, "and I'm really thankful that I came here."
Everyone just smiled warmly at her and they continued round the table. Emily's hand never leaving her own.
It was late when everyone finally left. After helping clear up they made their way up to bed, knowing they had to be up early.
"I really am thankful I came here." Alison said as they got into bed.
"I'm thankful you came too." Emily leaned over and kissed her.
"This town is amazing, I think I know what my story is going to be."
"Really?" Emily propped herself up on her elbow and grinned at her.
"Yeah, I'm going to start writing when we get back." Ali pushed her down so she could lay on her chest.
"That sounds like a great idea." Emily wrapped her arms around her.
This trip had given her a lot of inspiration, and not just for her story. She had gotten a glimpse of what life could be like with Emily. The future that they could have, how her life could be if she just gave it all up. If she stopped caring about her other world, her real world. She found herself questioning more and more which one her real world really was though. What scared her the most though, was that she couldn't stop thinking about that house. That future with Emily. Pam was right, she needed to decide what she wanted.
It was a sad goodbye the next morning. Only her and Emily were leaving, she had to be back in the city for work.
"Thank you so much for everything." Alison said, hugging Pam tightly.
"Anytime, I'll see you at Christmas." Pam hugged her just as tight.
"Christmas?" Alison questioned, she wasn't against coming back, but that was the one holiday her family actually spent together and it would be difficult to get out of it.
"Yeah, mom's coming to the city." Emily explained.
"Oh, well yes I suppose I'll see you at some point then." The thought made Alison happy.
"I'm going to nap I think." Emily yawned from her seat on the plane.
"Okay." Alison nodded and played with her hands nervously.
"Everything alright?" Emily asked, cocking her head.
"Yeah, I just don't want to have to go back to work." Alison pulled a face.
"Me neither." She replied laughing.
Alison rolled her eyes as Emily shut hers, then she sat there wondering when exactly she should tell her that she'd bought them a house.
So there we have it, loved it? Hated it? Couldn't care less, you're just here for the free words? Let me know. Also, why not share a fun fact about yourself? I'll go first, I really love socks.
